Nuke dump cleanup plans expected in 2 weeks

By the Associated Press | September 4, 2014 | 9:05 PM EDT

CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Officials working to reopen the federal government's troubled nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico say they are making significant progress and will detail their recovery plans in two weeks.

Tammy Reynolds, who is leading the effort at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, told a community meeting Thursday evening that there are more than 7,000 pieces to the plan for cleaning up radiological contamination and resuming operations after a mysterious February leak that contaminated 22 workers.

Officials have said it could be three years before WIPP completely reopens.

It's still unclear exactly what caused the leak from a barrel of waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

WIPP is the government's only permanent repository for legacy waste such as contaminated gloves, tools and clothing from decades of nuclear bomb building.